Stroud's

I have to start out by saying I miss the old location at 85th and Troost. Yes, it's been gone for awhile, but the hurt is still fresh. Come on, a creaky, uneven floor, and an old guy playing at the piano? It doesn't get any better than that. The one up north is still cool, but the new location in Fairway has no style.
I ask every person new to KC the same question, "have you been to Stroud's?". I always get the same answer. "Yes, but the chicken wasn't that good."
I'm going to let you in on a secret the moron who sent you there forgot to tell you. Come closer. Lean in...
The chicken's not that great. Never has been. Now, the chicken fried steak, the pork chops (which you can get grilled or fried, or both on the same plate), the mashed potatoes, oh God the mashed potatoes, and pretty much everything else is sweet, delicious mana from heaven.
My wife and I have been trying to copy the green beans for years, but still haven't got it right. And my sister and I could finish off a platter of gizzards and livers before you could say "Gross! Gizzards and livers?"
Next secret. Have everybody order a different side, that way you can have them all.
So the next time your aunt Matilda comes in from Cleveland, and you want to take her to Stroud's, repeat after me, "don't get the chicken."

Food: 5 spoons
Service: 4 spoons, you have to wait, but it's worth it. I think they've had the same waitresses forever.
Kitch: 2 (I averaged the 2 locations)
Bonus: The cinnamon rolls!

Classy Burger-geddon

   -To  start off,  I’m not a big fan of Gourmet hamburgers. A good burger is a good burger, but for the sake of argument we go head to head with Kansas City's top foo-foo burger joints. Also, I'd like to add I prefer my burgers a little thinner so Hi-Boy is still the real winner here. But BRGR puts up a good fight; great for kids, dates or out of towners. They try to keep it real, with burgers everyone will enjoy, unlike Blanc. The BRGR Mac and Cheese debate is still going on here at GS. It's tasty, but I dont think it is right for  kids - tastes like wine is in i,t or some funky cheese yo mama might like. Oh, and I think both places have soupy  ketchup.

Burger-geddon

It's on. It's more than stripy pants versus checker pants. As any reader of this blog knows, I am a dyed-in-the-wool Hi-Boy lover. But its time to give Big-Boy it's due. The Spooners headed to the one on 40-Hiway in sweet-sweet Indy, home to so many delicious dives.
The place itself froze in time mid 80s. That always a good thing.
We ordered a variety: burgers, tenderloin, fries, onion rings, tots, shakes and something wonderful sounding. A bacon-dog.
They should have called my burger the lettuce burger instead of the Big Boy. Bland. Tasteless, except for the lettuce. The tots were fine, and the shake okay. The onion rings could have been a little crisper, and the tenderloin was just sad.
The bacon-dog was the best thing, which isn't saying much because it wasn't that good. C'mon Big Boy, I wanted you to put up more of a fight. You got this rep to live up to. A history.
Victory to Hi-Boy.

Bonus: To top off this sad little adventure we went to Flea Mart down 40 a ways. Always on the look out for something kitchy, I was excited. It just got worse. They say the gates of Hell are disguised as places of misery, like the DMV and clown colleges. We found another. It was like a really expensive Salvation Army store. Expired meds and Conway Twitty albums anyone? How 'bout a Klingon knife?

Food: 2 Spoons, right out of the freezer to the fryer
Kitch: 4, I love the 80s
Price: 3, not too bad
Bonus: Bacon on a hot dog.